Archive for November, 2009

I’ve been thinking about lists on Twitter and how they might be used to assess someone’s influence. I’m about to let you in on my thought process. Please keep all hands and feet in the car until it comes to a complete stop. We are entering murky and dangerous waters …

My assumption is that if somebody puts you on a list, they really want to pay attention to you. They are giving you a vote of confidence.

By dividing the number of lists a person is on by their total number of followers, I believe this might serve as a quick and dirty rating of relative influence. To me, this is one simple method to answer the question — you have a lot of followers, but how many REALLY listen to you?

Certainly this is more straight-forward than the mysterious algorithms of Twitter grading apps. Both number of followers and number of lists are public, easily-accessible data points. Another advantage is that “list” is a relatively new Twitter function. People have not had time to figure out how to “game” it yet. If this formula would catch on, people will probably figure out a way to boost their numbers, but in this moment in time, it’s still “pure.”

For your edification and discussion, I came up with a representative list of top social media bloggers (those with more than 10,000 followers) and ran the list formula (# of lists / # of followers = influence rating). Try it on your own favorite marketing personalities. Any surprises?

I’m really proud and pleased with how the {grow} community has, well … grown. Reading your comments every day is like tapping into some of the best minds in the world on the most relevant topics in marketing today. It’s also a lot of fun! Thank you.

One way we can all get to know each other a little better is by following the blogs of other community members. I thought it might be nice to give you an opportunity to shamelessly promote your own blog. Please let the other community members know about your blog in the comment section below and tell us a few words about what you like to write about!

As one audience member recently wrote, ” the {grow} community is like no other.” One of the aspects that I like about it is that we look for opportunities to HELP EACH OTHER. I encourage you to read, support and comment on each other’s blogs as a way to connect and support the entire global {grow} community.

I have never used this community to comment on another person’s blog but today I’m just so happy, so enthralled, so downright giddy that I could kiss my keyboard. One of the social media purists has finally discovered the bright, clear light of capitalism.

And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy — Jason Falls. Jason is one of my favorite bloggers but has historically been one of the stalwart “keepers of the conversation.” You know the type — the social media country clubbers who set the industry’s tone with a relentless mantra of “it’s all about connection” and “conversation” and “relationships.” In fact, a few months ago, Jason went so far as to write that any company expecting to make money off of social media will fail.

Each time I discuss the business goals or reasons why a client wants to use social media, the answers come down to one thing: selling more stuff. It’s a harsh business reality. If you don’t make money, the business goes under. If you don’t make more money, people lose their jobs.”

The social media purists have laid down the law and, so, to participate in social media as a business, you must do things like, “participate in the conversation,” “engage your customers,” and “talk with us not to us.”

I’ve got news for you. In the world of business, all that talk will get you exactly nowhere. Conversations do not ring the cash register. Engagement does not sell more product. Talking with people just means you have to take time to listen which prevents you from spending valuable time selling more product.

Halleluia. Maybe I’ll finally have some company out here in the social media netherworld of business rationality.

And if this isn’t enough reason to celebrate, read what the Ultimate Blogging Machine Chris Brogan wrote just a month ago:

Think Like a Business – if you’re in this for business, always ask yourself how this work ties to more sales (and if you’re not trying to make money, think of “sale” as whatever you hope to convert. Hint: it’s not “more audience.”). If you’re just writing to write, shooting video to get it up there, tweeting because people said you should, rethink all that. Decide what’s going to ring your register and work on that.

What??? Ring the register? Not seeking “more audience?” Could this be an era of enlightenment for the guy who recently yelled at his audience: “This is NOT about you and your STUPID COMPANY” ?

What’s happening around here? My guess is that both have recently had a big dose of the real world. Falls went out on his own and had to come out from behind the P&L protectionism of agency life. Brogan’s sudden emergence on a bigger stage probably got him in front of experienced business people instead of the sycophants who dutifully re-tweet his every blog, bluster and burp.

So this begs a new question. Are my days as a contrarian coming to an end? I mean if Brogan’s in, the burp tweeters will fall right in line. If the social media elite are finally figuring it out, what do I write about now? Hmmm. How about, “It’s all about the conversation?” : )

One of my customers is a brilliant management consultant. An engineer by training, he does not come by marketing instinct naturally and asked me to help.

This is a customer tailor-made for Twitter:

Small business-owner

Enormous, global market potential (needs a lot of awareness)

Small budget

No time to blog, develop content, etc.

Tech-savvy

Is a charming, bright person with engaging personality.

And yet he WILL NOT TWEET. I coaxed, cajoled and threatened. I’ve trained him patiently and even prescribed a daily Twitter regimen. I demonstrated the power of the platform when I found him a potential new business contact on the first day of operation. He didn’t follow-up and seems content with his tweet-free existence.

This may seem strange, but it isn’t. I’ve found similar resistance from many people who can benefit from this business tool. I asked my client “why” and (published with his permission) here is his answer:

Not sure why really. I guess the idle chatter (which is mostly what I seem to see when I log on) just doesn’t make any sense to me. There’s obviously some self imposed barrier that I can’t or just don’t want to cross. You were kind enough to introduce me to Twitter, and I appreciated that. There’s the old expression about leading a horse to water. Guess I’m just not that thirsty for Twitter water… at least yet.

This type of reaction is not unusual. In fact I was a Twitter Quitter myself and had to really push through a few weeks of of this non-intutive communication platform before I had an expereince that changed my view forever …

I was bored one night and noticed a trending topic titled #newnameforswineflu. I clicked on it and was entertained for a half hour as people from all over the world chimed in with alternaitve names like “Hamthrax” and “The Aporkalypse.” Although this event was playful, it dawned on me that I was watching a real-time global brain-storming session. Now THAT was very cool. That was something that could never have happened before in the history of mankind. I got it. The light bulb went on for good.

I’m wondering, what did it take for YOU to “get” Twitter? Was it simply perseverance? The fear of falling behind? Or did it take an “a-ha” moment like me? For the 40 percent of us who didn’t quit after trying it, what lit the lightbulb for you?

Illustration: Natalie Dee

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-Mark Schaefer